Whenever someone asks the question of how to improve in a competitive video game there is a really commonplace word and key concept that gets thrown around at everyone: Practice. But it is not often discussed how to practice, or even what to practice, so most people are left with more doubts than what they began with. In a really developed metagame that has a high skill ceiling such as Super Smash Bros. Melee, it can be troublesome to actively understand what you should practice to get better and achieve success in whatever aspect of the game you are having trouble with. The question "Where to begin?" can be hard to answer by yourself.

Let me start getting this out of the way: Always practice your fundamentals. Fundamentals in this game are everything that relates to how well you control your movement options. How consistent you are in controlling your character in any given situation is key to being better at any specific situation you want to improve. So let's start with the key fundamentals you should practice in a training session:

• Dashdancing across stages and platforms
• Dash before a wavedash to increase it's length
• SHFFL (Short Hop, Fast Fall, L-Canceled) aerials
• OoS (Out of Shield) options
• Shield Drop
• Ledge options

These are key to improve and they work for every single character in the game. As these are basic and general they can be further specialized depending on the character and options said character has in any given situation. Feel free to explore, take notes on things, and be thorough with your practice.

So you know what to practice, but how exactly do you improve in these aspects of the game? It's rather simple, just make a list of the things you want to practice and work at it.

Let's take a look at an example. Go to Vs. Mode, Melee. Pick the character you want. Change the game settings to 99 stocks with a 99 minute time limit. You can either plug in a second controller so you can start a match without a CPU going at you or use 20XX to make the CPU just stand still.

Ok, so now you should have a list of things to practice, it could be something such as this:

1. Dash to Wavedash across stage (2 min)
2. Dashdance across stage without getting the run animation (1 min)
3. Dashdance in a platform without falling or getting the run animation (1 min)
4. Wavedash, focusing on getting maximum length (1 min)
5. SHFFL aerials (1 min)
6. SHFFL aerials on hit (1 min) [This requires either a CPU you can hit or a 20XX CPU holding shields]
7. Wavedash OoS (2 min)
8. JC (Jump Cancel) grab (30 seconds)
9. Shield Drop (1 min)
10. Ledge Dash (3 min, change sides after half time)

Waveland movement in platforms and fastfall after falling from them (1min 30 seconds)

This is a really basic routine that can help you improve with any character and in any stage and it just takes 15 minutes. Be thorough with it and use the timer you set to help you keep track of the time you spend in any specific drill. You can get more specific as you progress, such as going for aerials and L canceling after a shield drop, or a up-smash after a ledge dash. So, if you're wondering where to start from, start from these drills: it is extremely unlikely you'll find having learned this skillset useless in the future.

As expected, this is going to be the "mileage may vary" paragraph. It has to be stressed, however, how important it is to evaluate yourself during these drills. What are you getting out of them, your improvements and areas that should take more of your time. Don't take the duration of the drills for granted and you should stress quality of practice rather than quantity. Remember that your fundamentals solidify your gameplay and having a firm grasp of your character movement will enable you to explore more of the punish game and neutral game aspects later on.

Consistency is key and professional players have said how important is to do these routines and they even stress that not skipping a day of practice is worth more than putting lots of straight hours in a single session. Results can be felt and seen even mid session, so what are you waiting for?

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